IMDb RATING
4.4/10
2.5K
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A security guard (ex special forces) brings his two kids to work at a basketball arena on the day, the governor, mayor, thousands of other spectators and 8 terrorists are there.A security guard (ex special forces) brings his two kids to work at a basketball arena on the day, the governor, mayor, thousands of other spectators and 8 terrorists are there.A security guard (ex special forces) brings his two kids to work at a basketball arena on the day, the governor, mayor, thousands of other spectators and 8 terrorists are there.
Sagine Sémajuste
- Alisha
- (as Sagine Semajuste)
Mif
- Devlin Montez
- (as Anthony J. Mifsud)
Featured reviews
Jesse Freeman, a former soldier turned stadium security guard who's still readjusting to civilian life, takes his kids to see a basketball game where he works only for a well armed team of mercenaries to take over the arena and only Jesse can save the day.
Welcome to Sudden Death is the latest in a long line of films produced by Universals Direct-to-video studio Universal 1440, a label that specializes in making sequels to moderately successful theatrical releases like Backdraft 2, Inside Man 2, and a glut of Dragonheart sequels just to name a few. In this case Welcome to Sudden Death is a remake of one of the better Jean Claude Van Damme vehicles Sudden Death from 1995 but the movie takes only the bare bones of its inspiration and slaps it on what feels like the tone and humor of Paul Blart.
First the good, Michael Jai White is still charismatic and brings energy to the movie even if the material is beneath him. What fun there is to be had from this movie is because of the charm and physical prowess of white. The hand to hand combat scenes range from mediocre to okay(with the best one being a sequence in a locker room at the tail end of the movie) and despite not being as well staged as superior White vehicles like Blood and Bone or Falcon Rising they do convey some dynamic and forceful fights.
The bad, the movie is obnoxiously silly. It is over stuffed with comic relief characters like Gus the janitor, Jesse's Kids, and a panicky rapper named Milli who all play their roles over the top with broad humor that does not land. Michael Eklund plays the villain code named Alpha and he is not a good villain. His performance feels more like a deranged hillbilly than a criminal mastermind and even taking into account the movie's goofy tone he still doesn't work.
Welcome to Sudden Death is a pointless remake of an okay 90s action movie. While not completely without merit thanks to the usually reliable Michael Jai White your time would be better spent watching similar fare like Final Score or the original Sudden Death.
Edit: for those of you who duck out before the end credits(or the end of the movie for that matter) the movie has the audacity to try to sequel bait with a post credits scene sting.......yeah, that's not happening.
Welcome to Sudden Death is the latest in a long line of films produced by Universals Direct-to-video studio Universal 1440, a label that specializes in making sequels to moderately successful theatrical releases like Backdraft 2, Inside Man 2, and a glut of Dragonheart sequels just to name a few. In this case Welcome to Sudden Death is a remake of one of the better Jean Claude Van Damme vehicles Sudden Death from 1995 but the movie takes only the bare bones of its inspiration and slaps it on what feels like the tone and humor of Paul Blart.
First the good, Michael Jai White is still charismatic and brings energy to the movie even if the material is beneath him. What fun there is to be had from this movie is because of the charm and physical prowess of white. The hand to hand combat scenes range from mediocre to okay(with the best one being a sequence in a locker room at the tail end of the movie) and despite not being as well staged as superior White vehicles like Blood and Bone or Falcon Rising they do convey some dynamic and forceful fights.
The bad, the movie is obnoxiously silly. It is over stuffed with comic relief characters like Gus the janitor, Jesse's Kids, and a panicky rapper named Milli who all play their roles over the top with broad humor that does not land. Michael Eklund plays the villain code named Alpha and he is not a good villain. His performance feels more like a deranged hillbilly than a criminal mastermind and even taking into account the movie's goofy tone he still doesn't work.
Welcome to Sudden Death is a pointless remake of an okay 90s action movie. While not completely without merit thanks to the usually reliable Michael Jai White your time would be better spent watching similar fare like Final Score or the original Sudden Death.
Edit: for those of you who duck out before the end credits(or the end of the movie for that matter) the movie has the audacity to try to sequel bait with a post credits scene sting.......yeah, that's not happening.
I knew this was going to be a low budget movie but this is just terrible! The acting is so bad and the story plot is even worst! I wish MJW would be in a good movie for once! Whoever directed this should never ever do another movie agian.
I didn't expect a whole lot, but somehow my expectations were still too high. The dialogue is atrocious and delivered poorly. Some of the characters quip like they know they're in a movie. What few fight sequences there are have been chopped to pieces. The motivations seemed like they existed just for the writer to attempt to make some statement about the military complex.
Only gets two stars because Michael Jai White is awesome. Even though he was clearly phoning it in for this movie.
Only gets two stars because Michael Jai White is awesome. Even though he was clearly phoning it in for this movie.
Go watch the 1995 Van Damme flick.
This is a sorry remake of the earlier version
Where did it all go wrong for you?
Yes I understand that it is very difficult for a cheap movie to get the backing from a major studio but oh boy why did any studio give this the green light?
Also why did Michael Jai White sign to do this? sack your agent.
Michael is a very talented martial artist and I own quite a few of his movies from the okay, universal soldier: the return to his great movie, blood and bone.
This film is way, way down in my estimation, Michael what possesed you make this tripe? I will never know, is he that desperate for money?
Another reviewer said that this film was a parody of the first sudden death, ah no it was not meant to be, in fact it was meant to be a serious sequel to it.
In fact the van damme vehicle looked like a massive Hollywood blockbuster.
Where did this go wrong? Well apart Rom the budget, which we all know about films finding it hard to get backup.
Another thing viewers look for in films like this are the fight scenes and this was really bad at it as well. You will always find this in really badly done movies, the moves are done so slowly and loom very amateurish that anybody who has watched a few action movies can do better and just think people get paid for making these dreadful fight scenes.
Do yourself a favour and don't watch this, the less people watch this may go and make Michael choose better vehicles to do.
Go and watch Security and Acts Of Vengeance, which both made cheaply but are great actioners.
Did you know
- TriviaIs a remake of Mort subite (1995) that is more true to the original action-comedy tone intended for that movie before it was re-written as a much more serious action-thriller. Michael Jai White and Sudden Death star Jean-Claude Van Damme appear together in Universal Soldier (1992) and Universal Soldier: Le combat absolu (1999).
- GoofsDuring the escape at the beginning of the movie, the three escapees all are 'blown' by the explosions at different times, including Jesse and the female being thrown before the explosion occurs.
- ConnectionsReferences Piège de cristal (1988)
Details
- Runtime1 hour 21 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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